Nothing but Obligation and Rivalry
by Cattarang
Summary: Molly hates Gill, and Gill can't stand Molly. But they both desperately need help from the other, so for now, they'll have to learn how to work together to bring Castanet back to it's former glory, and to keep Molly from going bankrupt. Gill's engagement to Luna isn't helping matters, nor is Chase's nosy behavior. These people just might be the death of Molly! GillXMolly
1. Chapter One - Obligatory Opening

Molly sighed, glancing at the flier once more. She wasn't what you'd consider a gullible girl, and she felt a healthy dose of skepticism towards the claims this poster was making. Land, a house, a barn and a coop, all for the low, low price of free; somehow, she didn't quite believe that. But at this point, what else could she do but look into it? She couldn't go back home, and she didn't have an education. She knew her great grandparents had been farmers, so hey, anything they could do, she could do better, right? Well, at least she hoped.

But, as it would turn out, it was ridiculously difficult to find this 'Castanet' on a map. Her father's atlas was either too old or too new, because where the flier said the town should be, all there was was barren coastline. So all she really had to go off of was the flier's tiny map, and even if the damn town really did exist, she still had to find some way to get there.

"Rats…" she mumbled, sitting outside the train depot. Even after showing the ticket master the map on the poster, he'd just shook his head. He'd never heard of Castanet, and even if he had, there were no stops on the train line. "It's all for the better anyway," she said, standing and dusting her pants off. "I couldn't have afforded a ticket anyway…" Just as she was about to turn tail and head back home to a set of disappointed parents, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. It seemed almost like…like a sparkle at the edge of her vision, but that was silly.

It was Saturday, and the marketplace in town was busy, so she brushed it off as just one of the vendors waving at a prospective customer or a cart rolling by. Shrugging to herself, she turned and started down the path. But before she had taken two steps, the wind picked up. And not just any wind, it was far too fierce a wind for such a mild spring morning. Bowing her head against the sudden gail, the flier she held in her hands was ripped from her grasp, and she sucked in her breath sharply.

"No!" she gasped, trying to snatch it from the clutches of the gail that had taken hold of it. Scrambling after it, she wove through the crowd, who seemed equally as startled by the sudden wind as she was, flailing and trying to catch the errant piece of paper. "Come back!" She watched as it twisted and tumbled on the breeze, until finally, it came to a halt. But not before slapping some poor fellow in the face.

"Wha-!?" The man, who looked as muscular as an ox and just as intimidating, staggered back as the flier slapped against his face. Molly's eyes flew open in shock, and she dashed over, her stomach twisting into a knot.

"I'm so sorry!" she said, halting in front of him timidly as he peeled the flier off of his face. He wore a confused expression, until his eyes scanned the contents of the poster. Then, to Molly's great surprise, his expression brightened, and he finally glanced down at the girl.

"Hey, this is Mayor Hamilton's flier!" he said, taking another look at it, before handing it back to Molly.

"Mayor…Hamilton?" she asked.

"Yeah, his flier asking for new ranchers!" The man grinned down at her. "So this is yours?"

"Er, yeah, I'm sorry about it hitting you in the face…" Her face was bright as a tomato as she apologized, but the man only chuckled.

"Don't be sorry, it must've been fate that made it fly into my face!" He stuck a hand out to Molly, who very cautiously shook it, though she still wasn't quite sure what he was talking about. "The name's Cain, I'm a rancher from Castanet. You must be lookin' to fill the position the Mayor's been offering?" And just like that, Molly's entire day had turned around for the better. Her blush faded as she broke out in an excited smile, and she nodded vigorously.

"Yes! Yes I am! You know where Castanet is!?"

"Know where it is? I'm heading back there right now!" Cain motioned back towards his horse and cart. "Just making the monthly trip to market, but seein' as there's not a lot to sell, I'm fixin' to head back a little early today." He hiked his trousers up by the silver-buckled belt at his waist. "You wouldn't be needing a ride, would you?"

"Would I!?" Molly couldn't believe her supreme luck; maybe it was fate? Whatever it was, she was feeling incredibly grateful for the stroke of luck she'd been given, it was the first time in a looong time anyone in her family had caught a break. "I would love one! I-if you're offering, that is."

"Sure, I've got room for one more. I could stick around for another hour or so if you need to get any bags or luggage-"

"No, no bags." Molly clutched the flier to her chest happily, and trotted over to Cain's cart. He gave her a surprised look, his eyebrows high over his forehead.

"Er, no bags at all?" he asked, scratching his head. "It's…it's a long trip, it's not easy to come back for things after we get there. I usually only make this trip once a month…"

"I don't really have anything worth taking," Molly said, a bit ruefully. "And I don't wanna take anything that my family might need back home…" She trailed off, not really wanting to mention how destitute her family would be if she were to take anything from home. Every little thing they had, they absolutely needed. Cain seemed to catch the hint, thankfully, and just shrugged.

"Well, alright, if you're sure." He climbed up into the driver's seat in the cart as Molly scrambled up onto the back. Her grin stretched from ear to ear, and she read through the flier once again. Even if this gig was too good to be true…well, she had to try, right? She owed her family that much.

* * *

At first, Molly thought it was a fly tickling her nose. She batted at it with her eyes still closed, hoping it would buzz off. But when the tickling continued, she turned, facing the opposite way. Still, the fly persisted, and she was left with one last option; cut her nap short and open her eyes. It was difficult to sleep on the bouncing and rocking cart anyway, especially since they'd left the paved roads of the city far behind, and were now riding through unpaved countryside. Grumbling slightly to herself, she opened her eyes. But what she was greeted with was not a fly.

"Waaah!" she shrieked, jumping back, nearly toppling off the back of the cart. Before her floated a…well, she wasn't sure what it was. It looked like a tiny person, but, it was floating, and seemed to be emitting a sparkling aura.

"What!? What is it!?" Cain shouted, spooked by Molly's shriek of terror. He whipped around in his seat, staring at her questioningly. She motioned towards the little flying creature, but when Cain just shot her a funny look, she slowly realized that he probably couldn't see it. Molly was completely still for a moment, before clearing her throat.

"Er…nothing, nothing, sorry. Just a…just a spider," she lied. Cain continued to stare at her, before turning back to the road. Her heart still beating a mile a minute, Molly looked back to the creature, who was now waving at her.

"Hello!" it chirped, in a very high-pitched voice. This startled her again, but she held in a scream this time; no need to make Cain think she was crazier than he already did. She just stared, convinced that she was dreaming. But after three pinches, that conviction was waning. "…You can see me, right?" the creature asked after a moment, when Molly didn't respond. Slowly, she nodded. "Good! That's what I thought! I saw you look towards me in the market place, but when you didn't follow me, I was afraid you couldn't see me after all. That's why I had to kick up that big wind to make the poster fly out of your hands!" The little being shook it's head, before plopping down on the cart in front of her. "But that gust took all the power out of me! I'm not like the other sprites, I'm just a kid!"

"…You made the wind…?" The click-clop of the horse's hooves and the sound of the wheels on the uneven dirt road covered up her whisper well enough, so Cain wouldn't hear her talking to the…whatever it was. Chances were, if he couldn't see this thing, he couldn't hear it either. "What…are you?"

"I'm a harvest sprite!" the little creature chirped, jumping into the air, only to fall back down again. "Ooof! Well, nearly. I'm not a proper harvest sprite yet, but I will be one day!"

"…What in God's name is a harvest sprite?" Molly still wasn't entirely convinced she wasn't seeing things, so before it could answer, she reached out, and poked it in it's cheek.

"Hey! Don't!" it squeaked. "I'm ticklish! Anyway, harvest sprites are what control the elements! They're the ones that make the harvest possible! With the help of the Harvest Goddess, of course!" He said all of this like it was the most natural thing in the world, but Molly was thunderstruck. It was only then that she remembered the old kid's stories; the Harvest Goddess and her sprites. The mischief the sprites made, and how their Goddess would always bail them out and set everything right. But, those were just kid's stories! Right?

"You've got to be kidding me," she whispered, before checking her own pulse. "Am I having hunger hallucinations?"

"What?" the sprite asked, before shaking his head quickly. "No, no, I'm real, I'm real! You've gatta believe me!" He thrashed his tiny limbs in the air as he threw a tiny fit. "You just gatta believe me, or else who's gonna help the Goddess!? She's dying, and she needs your help!"

"My help?" She raised an eyebrow at what she assumed was just a hallucination. "Okay, even if there was a Harvest Goddess, which there's not, why would she need MY help?"

"Because!" it wailed, "Because you can see us! Because you're pure of heart!"

"What?"

"Only those pure of heart can see the sprites, and talk to the goddess! Only someone with a pure spirit can save the Goddess!" The sprite seemingly found the strength to fly again, and floated right up to Molly's face, hugging her cheek. "Please, please help us! We need you! And if I can't find someone to save the Goddess, she's gonna…she's gonna…" He became incomprehensible then, his wailing became too much, and big fat tears sprung from his eyes. With every passing second, the idea that this was all a hallucination was fading from her mind, and with this tiny thing hugging her face, she started to think maybe…maybe he was telling the truth?

"I'm not…I don't think I'm very pure of heart," Molly said, plucking him from her face by his tiny wings, and holding him in her palm. "Are you sure it has to be me? I've kinda got other people to save, too, and I don't think I can…I don't think I know how to save the Goddess."

"That's why we gatta go talk to her!" the sprite squeaked, drying his tears with the backs of his tiny hands. "Oh, please say you'll go! Please say you'll help the Goddess!" Molly sat there, staring at him for a moment, and when it looked like he was going to start wailing again, she panicked.

"Okay, okay!" she said hastily, "I'll talk to this Goddess of yours! But I really don't think I'll be much help…" Before she could voice any more misgivings, the sprite had sprung from her palm, and back up to his face, but this time, he was kissing her cheek, not crying on it.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" he sang, before flying circles around her head. "We're gonna save the Goddess, we're gonna save the Goddess!"

"Okay, settle down," she chuckled, still unsure of the whole situation. "First, I guess I have to talk to this Mayor guy about his 'become a farmer' thing."

"But we'll go talk to the Goddess next, right?"

"Uh, yeah. After. Is that okay?" The sprite clapped his tiny hands together, and Molly smiled. Okay, he may or may not have been a figment of her stress and starvation-addled brain, but he was damn cute!

"That's perfect!"

* * *

"Well, this is where I leave you." Molly bowed deeply to Cain as he leaned down in the driver's seat. "Town hall is directly up this hill, and across the bridge. You can't miss it!"

"Thank you, Cain," Molly said, lifting her head and smiling up at him. "I owe you so much; you really saved my life there!" The older man shook his head, chuckling.

"Ah, no need to thank me! I should be thanking you; this town could really need some new lifeblood." That sounded slightly cryptic to Molly, but she let it slide, and Cain cracked the reigns, his cart pulling away. She turned away, looking up the hill towards where he'd said town hall was, but not before she caught the last thing he mumbled: "Let's hope you last longer than the last one."

"Last one?" she asked, looking at the tiny sprite, Finn, who sat on her shoulder. "What does he mean by that?"

"Er…" He trailed off, twiddling his thumbs. "…Let's head on over to the town hall! The sooner you talk to the Mayor, the sooner you talk to the Goddess!" Molly gave him a weird look, and he added, "she'll be able to answer all your questions, I promise!"

Shrugging, she decided to store her questions away for later, and began the trek up the hill towards Harmonica Town.

Town hall really was hard to miss, since it was built right into the side of the cliff. In fact, many of the shops and houses in the downtown area were built into the cliffs. 'Good insulation,' she thought to herself, walking up to the front door of the Cliffside building. Pushing it open, a tint bell over the door chimed. Just as it did, a rather stout fellow who was shuffling papers behind the front counter turned, seemingly surprised. His apparent confusion grew when he didn't immediately recognize her.

"Hello, what can I do for you…?" he asked, as Molly looked around the small front office. She held the flier in one hand, but held it out to him then, donning an awkward smile.

"Oh! Er, well, I saw this flier, and I thought I would come see the city…maybe stay…"

"You…you want to become a new farmer!?" He seemed a bit too enthusiastic saying those words, and Molly shuffled back a step or two. But the little man all but vaulted over the counter to come shake her hand, nearly crying tears of joy from his small, beady eyes. "Oh, welcome! Welcome to Castanet! Oh, I'm so happy to meet you!"

"Er…yeah…" Molly's entire arm was shaking up and down as he basically had a deathhold on her hand, and when he finally released her, she inspected her poor crushed hand for damage.

"Oh, where are my manners?" the man asked, konking himself on the forehead. "I'm Mayor Hamilton, elected official of our fair city! And what might your name be, dear?"

"Um, Molly," she said, glancing at the sprite who floated by her side. It seemed Hamilton couldn't see him either. Mayor Hamilton clapped his hands, and nodded once.

"Yes, yes, well, it's nice to meet you, Molly! I know you're going to love it here!" Shuffling back behind the counter, Hamilton bent down for a few moments, before reappearing with a small stack of papers. "Well, here's the new farmer agreement! You can read through it if you like, but it's all very good and fair, I'm sure you won't take offense to any of the stipulations-"

"Stipulations?" Her skepticism was creeping back up on her, and she walked forward, up to the counter, and took the stack from him when he offered it. "What kind of stipulations? The flier said 'free farm'."

"Er, well, yes, the farm is free…" Hamilton said, tapping all five finger together nervously. "And it's quite a steal, too, everything one could need, all nicely bundled up and ready to go…a spacious field, a lovely barn, even a hotsprings nearby…"

"5000 gold!?" Molly looked up at the man incredulously, stabbing at the paper. "Free means free, not 5000 gold!" The mayor looked away sheepishly.

"Well, technically, that's just the property tax," he said, "the property itself is valued at nearly 30000 gold, so 5000 is nothing in comparison-"

"But I don't have 5000 gold," Molly lamented, visibly wilting. Finn squeaked beside her. "I can't afford this…" And she'd come all this way, too! She was so far from home, couldn't afford this promised 'free' ranch, what was she going to do!? Seeing her silently anguish over her misfortune, Hamilton hurriedly shook his head.

"Well, now, don't fret just yet!" he said quickly, putting on a smile. "I'm sure arrangements can be made! Don't go turning the offer down just yet!" He looked around quickly, Molly wasn't sure why, before dropping his voice considerably. "Who says the tax has to be paid in full before you move in? I don't see why we couldn't just, collect the tax from you after a few months, maybe after you've saved up a bit…" Molly's dour expression brightened a bit, but not all the way. 5000 gold was still 5000 gold, no matter when she had to pay it. And paying later just meant that sometime down the road, she'd have to give Hamilton 5000 gold that she could be sending back to her family. That was a lot of money!

'But what else am I going to do?' she thought, sighing heavily. This was her last shot, her last chance to make something of herself and help out her family. She couldn't fail. She was their last hope.

"You said the house includes everything? A bed, a kitchen, a bathroom?" Seeing her resolve solidify, Hamilton cheered right up, and nodded.

"Of course, of course!" he said. "Everything's included! So does this mean you'll stay?" Molly hesitated a moment, but when Finn began to wail in her ear that she had to stay, she sighed again, and nodded.

"I guess it do-"

"Father, what's going on out here?" Molly was cut off by a voice that emerged from the back room. Hamilton immediately lost his cheery demeanor, and went back to looking sheepishly away. Molly was about to ask who'd spoken, when the speaker himself appeared, poking his head out from the back room, and then strutting out to stand beside his father. "Who's this?"

The fellow who now stood before Molly was nothing like the much older Mayor Hamilton. Besides his general looks, his white-blonde hair, blue eyes, the fact that he was taller than Molly, his entire attitude was different. His posture was perfect, his nose was in the air, his pointed features were worn in a cross between a scowl and a sneer. His clothing was immaculate, and his aura was that of quiet superiority. In other words, he was everything in a person that Molly despised. This was the kind of person who would look down on people like Molly and her family. And from the way he was eyeing the brunette, she got the feeling he was looking down on her right now.

"Gill, this is Molly. She's come to answer my ad for new farmers," Hamilton introduced cautiously. He glanced at Molly. "Molly, this is Gill…my son." Molly looked back to the taller boy, cocking an eyebrow. The family resemblance was…nonexistent. Damn, Molly looked more like Hamilton than this guy! But she had to admit; Gill looked more the part of the Mayor than his father did. Hamilton seemed too sweet to be a politician. Gill…well, he didn't look sweet at all.

Gill's gaze travelled down to Molly's second-hand boots and back up to her home-cut bobbed brunette hair. She was silent as he seemed to assess her, but she did notice something strange. Finn sat quietly on her shoulder, worriedly snuggling into her hair and hiding his tiny face like a child. As Gill's eyes landed on her shoulder, she was pretty sure she saw one of his eyebrows cock slightly, as if momentarily confused. Could….was he seeing Finn? His eyes seemed somewhat unfocused for the small moment he was staring at her shoulder, but he quickly moved on, and Molly was sure she'd been imagining things. Just like the others, this Gill fellow couldn't see Finn. After all, you had to have a 'pure heart' to see sprites, apparently. This uppity fellow couldn't possibly have a pure heart. Molly had been still, awkwardly enduring the Mayor's son's scrutiny, and flinched when he finally cleared his throat.

"Pleasure," he finally said, holding out his hand. Molly hesitated to shake it, but thought it would be rude not to. And she didn't need to go and be making enemies right off the bad, especially since Hamilton was making a concession for her to pay the property tax later.

"Uh…yeah," she answered lamely. After hardly even touching his hand, he withdrew it, folding it back behind him. Molly's arm hung limply in the air for a moment, as she sunk in what had just happened, before falling back to her side. 'What a prissy jerk,' she thought, but swallowed her insults.

"Well, it looks like my father's already given you the contract," Gill said, nodding towards the papers in front of her. "So, if you'll just sign and pay, I'll get that filed away for you."

"Er…" Hamilton, tapped his toes on the hardwood nervously for a moment, before chuckling anxiously. "The thing about that is…I actually already told Miss Molly that she could pay…when she's saved up for a few months…" Gill's eerily calm demeanor cracked at this, and he glared daggers down at his father.

"What!?" he hissed, throwing his hands in the air. "Father, do you never learn!? You can't keep signing new farmers on IOUs!" He stabbed a finger at Molly without looking at her, to which she didn't particularly like. "She'd going to stay a few months, and then run off like the others! And then who's going to be put out 5000 gold!?"

"Hey!" she interjected, slapping his hand away, to which Gill looked very shocked. "I'm right here! Don't talk about me like I'm some criminal!"

"Oh, I know your kind," Gill sneered, crossing his arms haughtily. "You people are always looking for a free ride, someone to mooch off of! Don't get mad at me because I see through your little ruse!"

"'You people'!?" Now she was really getting angry! "What do you mean by that!? Just because I'm not some prissy, silver-spoon-fed daddy's boy doesn't mean I'm some con artist!"

"How dare you, you little-"

"ENOUGH!" Hamilton's voice echoed through the small office, and brought both arguing parties to an abrupt halt. Both sets of eyes turned to the Mayor, who looked about ready to pop. Molly began to shrink back; now she'd gone and done it! She was going to get an earful, and there was no way she was going to be able to pay the tax later now; if Hamilton even let her stay in Castanet at all! Oh, why'd she have to go and open her big, fat mouth!?

But Hamilton's rage wasn't directed at her, to her great surprise. Now, the tiny Mayor blew his stack at his son instead.

"Gill, you know how much we need new farmers!" he yelled, and Gill stumbled back, shocked that his father's voice was capable of rising to such a decibel. "How dare you come in here and make her feel like a second-class citizen! In the eyes of Castanet, she'd a valued citizen now, and I will not have you, my only son, talking to my citizens like that!"

"But, Father, I-"

"Enough, Gill!" Hamilton shook her head, which had all but turned crimson at that point. "It's clear to me that you're not mature enough to work here in town hall! Until you've learned a valuable lesson in courtesy and kindness, I forbid you from handling Castanet affairs!" Gill let out the prissiest gasp Molly had ever heard escape someone's lips, and the way he balled up his fists made her think he was about to stamp his feet on the floor like a child. That thought nearly made her laugh.

"That's not fair!" Gill protested, sounded less mature by the minute, but Hamilton was having none of it. He crossed his arms sternly, staring his son down.

"Get out of here, Gill. I'm too disappointed to look at you right now." Gill's mouth hung open for a few more seconds. His gaze turned to Molly briefly, a fire burning behind those icy blue eyes like she'd never seen before. His vitriolic gaze lingered for a few seconds, before he rounded the counter, and made his way for the door.

"Fine, run the city into the ground for all I care!" he spat over his shoulder at them. "Not like one farmer is going to save this failing town. Nothing but a miracle can save it now, anyway." Both Molly and Finn flinched when Gill slammed the door behind him, and then turned back to Hamilton, who was rubbing his temples tiredly.

"Ohhh…don't have children," he said, very much sounding his age. There was a pause, before Molly couldn't hold her laugh back anymore. Hamilton wasn't made, though, in fact, he joined in after a few beats. "So," he said, as they started to calm back down. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I sincerely hope my son didn't scare you off; we're really a very friendly city! Gill's just…slightly less optimistic than I am, you see."

"Yeah, I kinda got that," Molly said, shrugging. "But, I guess it didn't make me want to stay any less…that is, if I can still pay the property tax after I save up for a while."

"Of course, my dear! Anything to make up for that dreadful snaffoo!" After things had calmed down, Molly signed the contract, only slightly pessimistic about having to pay that tax later down the road, and as she walked from town hall, Finn let out a happy little chirp.

"Horray! Now we get to go visit the Goddess!"


	2. Chapter Two - Mandatory Exposition

"Molly?"

"…"

"Molly, c'mon, don't be like that!"

"…She can't be serious." Molly's forehead was resting against the wall beside her mirror, as she was studying the woodgrain rather intently. Finn bobbled around her head, still trying to catch her attention, but to no avail.

"Super serious!" he replied, his voice merely a squeak in her ear. "You heard her! Why would the Harvest Goddess lie about something like this?"

"But why me!?" Throwing her hands up, the brunette began to pace back and forth in her tiny house, her boots thumping loudly on the floorboards. "I'm nobody, I'm not special! I…I mean, just yesterday, I didn't even believe in things like Goddesses and sprites," she motioned to Finn. "And now today, not only am I supposed to just, accept that all this fairy-tale stuff is real, but I also have to save it!?" Her hair was frizzy with stress, and she pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes, trying to calm herself down.

"You're not nobody," Finn squeaked indignantly, scrunching up his tiny baby face into a scowl. "You're Molly, and you're gonna save the Harvest Goddess!"

"Finn, I can't even save my own family, let alone a Goddess!" She peeked at him through her fingers, before turning, and collapsing onto her new bed. She let out a long breath, before falling silent.

"What do you mean?" he asked, floating down to sit beside her head. "Is your family in trouble too?"

"They're the whole reason I'm here," she mumbled into her pillow. "They need money, and fast, and I'm supposed to be making it here, and sending it back to them." Turning her head to face Finn, he flinched at how utterly exhausted the girl looked. "My Dad's sick, and the medicine is too expensive. I was supposed to go off on my own and make money. But now, I have back taxes to pay on this place, and that's going to take a big chunk out of the money I'm supposed to send back. Plus, I'm somehow supposed to find the time and energy to pull off a miracle and keep a diety from dying!?" Finn opened his mouth to speak, but must have thought better of it, because he closed it once more. Molly felt somewhat bad for the depressed look on his face, and the way his sparkling aura seemed to fade, but what was she supposed to do? Become Superwoman and save everyone? Right now, she felt like she could hardly keep herself afloat.

"If you don't help her," Finn finally said, "who will? No one else can see her, not with how weak she is."

"I…I don't know. I'm sorry, Finn, but…but I have to think of my family first." She sat up in bed, just as Finn balled his tiny fists up, and turned an angry scowl to her.

"You're never gonna make enough money to save your Dad if you don't help the Goddess!" he shouted. While his voice was still small, Molly flinched at that, surprised at what a 180 his attitude had taken.

"I-" she started to say, but Finn didn't give her a chance to finish.

"If the Goddess dies, so does Castanet! And so will your Dad!" Tears were welling up in his eyes again, and before Molly had a chance to be shocked and angry at his words, he jumped up, and sped away. Floating out through an open window, Molly was only just able to hear him burst into tears, before he went out of earshot.

"That little…uggg!" She slapped her hand against her forehead in exasperation, before groaning tiredly. She simply didn't have enough energy for this today. She wondered if she'd ever have enough energy to deal with all of this.

'But…he's right,' she thought somberly, leaning her elbows on her knees, slumping over. 'I'll never have a prosperous farm if the land is drying up like this. How am I supposed to make enough money if I can't produce quality crops?' She reflected back on everything the Harvest Goddess had told her; the land dying, the sea refusing to produce fish, the fire burning cold. She'd said there were five bells to ring, to restore Castanet, but, even the Goddess hadn't known where they were. If she didn't know, how was Molly supposed to find them and ring them? Was any of it even worth it?

'If the Goddess dies, so does the land. If the land dies, so do my profits. If I can't turn a profit…then Dad's a goner.' She was staring down at her worn boots as she contemplated this, and for a very long time, didn't move or make a sound. She wished she hadn't been burdened with this responsibility, but now that she had…she had to do something. Even if she didn't care about the Goddess, which, she supposed she did, to some extent, she had to do it for her Dad. She had to do it for her family.

"Finn?" Pushing her front door open and poking her head out into the breezy spring afternoon, she looked around. She couldn't see or hear the little sprite, and a pang of worry shot down her spine. He was just a kid, even if he was magical. If he'd gotten lost, well, it wouldn't be good for either him or Molly. "Finn? Where are you?" Poking around her property, she checked the dilapidated old coop first, then the run-down barn, the material pile out back, even the hot springs to the North. It wasn't until she was poking around in the fields did she start to hear sniffling and crying coming from the direction of the small, under-watered cheery orchard.

"Finn, are you up there?" she called softly, looking up into the branches of one of the stunted trees. The crying seemed to pause for a moment, before she received an answer.

"Go away!" he sobbed, hiding amongst the leaves of the canopy. "You don't care about the Goddess, and I don't care about you!"

"Finn, I'm sorry," she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "I shouldn't have said those things. I guess I wasn't understanding your feelings. I would be furious if someone refused to help save my Dad, I should have known it was that important to you."

"The Harvest Goddess isn't my Mom," Finn sniffled, peering down at Molly, "but she might as well be! If she dies, I don't know what I'm going to do!"

"…I know. And look, I don't know if I can even do anything to help, but…but I'm gonna try." At this, Finn perked up, and started to float down out of the tree, sniffling and wiping his tears away.

"Really?" he asked, and Molly nodded, giving him a weary smile.

"I'll do my best. And hey, maybe it won't really be so hard after all! Maybe it'll be a piece of cake!" She didn't exactly believe that herself, but it seemed to cheer Finn right up, and he was soon floating and dancing around her head as the two of them headed back to the tiny shack she now called home.

"Yay! I knew you'd help, I just knew it!" he sang, and Molly just rolled her eyes, letting her shoulders relax and slump.

"That makes one of us," she sighed.

* * *

"Are you sure, dearie?" Molly ducked out of the door to Sonata Tailoring just in time to avoid having the largest, most lime-green gardening hat she'd even laid eyes on forcefully fitted to her head. "Green really is your color, you know!"

"Thank you, Shelly, but really, gloves is all I came in for!" She shook her head as the elderly seamstress tried to offer her the hat one last time through the front doorway.

"You can pay on credit, you know," she said, pouting, which was really quite adorable, seeing as Shelly was pushing 80 years old. Molly was almost tempted to just take the hat, to make her happy, but knew she couldn't afford it. She couldn't really even afford these gloves, but if she was going to start her new career as a farmer tomorrow morning, she'd need a sturdy pair of gloves to wear.

"I really appreciate the offer," Molly said once again, "but, I really have to go now! I have to find someplace to buy food in town, so I'll just be leaving…" After bowing and saying goodbye to the somewhat over-friendly old woman, Molly let out an exhausted breath, and started making her way down the street. By now, her stomach was grumbling something fierce, as she hadn't eaten since very early that morning, before she'd left. She hardly had any money to her name, but with what little she had, she had to find some place to eat, or she was afraid she was going to pass out!

"Too many staircases in this damn town," she grumbled to herself, as she passed under the dim streetlights. The sun had only just set on her first day in Castanet, and she'd spent a large portion of her time here in Harmonica town getting lost. There were no street signs, no directions, everything had a staircase leading to and away from it…how did any of these people find their way around? In fact, Molly was just about to give up and take her chances skipping dinner, when she found herself in front of a set of double doors, a large sign reading 'Brass Bar' hanging over them. "Finally!" she said, brightening up slightly. "Let's just hope they're cheap…"

Up until then, Molly had felt like she'd been operating on autopilot; talking to Cain, Hamilton, even Gil and the Harvest Goddess had all felt very automatic and easy. Maybe it was because those things had all been necessary interactions. I mean, she couldn't have NOT talked to Hamilton. But now, as she pushed the doors of the bar open and shuffled inside, she felt her insides knot up, and she froze.

There were a lot more people in this town than she first imagined.

Three young men, all covered in soot, sawdust, or a combination of the two sat around the closest table, and as soon as she walked in, all three turned to stare at her. A little farther on, a man in dungarees and a cowboy hat sat with his feet on leaning up on the table, and a pretty blonde woman stood nearby, writing something down on a pad of paper. The woman only looked up when the man flicked his hat up out of his eyes to look at Molly. Two more women, one dressed modestly, the other…not so much, stood by the stage, where a piano and a microphone stand stood in one corner. The bar had grown quiet when Molly had entered, nearly every pair of eyes on her.

The spotlight was not somewhere Molly had ever liked to be.

Smiling lamely, she cleared her throat, and shuffled forward. Ducking her head, she tried not to draw any more attention to herself as she made her way to the back counter, but Murphy's Law seemed to be in full effect that night. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, she tripped over her own two feet, and ended up sprawled out on the floor. The two women by the stage stifled giggles, and Molly could hear a few others murmuring under their breath.

"You alright, Darlin'?" Looking up, Molly met eyes with the blonde woman, who came to stand over her. "That was quite a tumble, huh?" She offered her hand to help Molly up, which the brunette gratefully accepted. Back on her feet, she dusted herself off, and was relieved when the multiple pairs of eyes that had been watching her finally, mercifully, turned away, and the normal noise level of the bar returned.

"Thank you," Molly said, feeling insanely awkward. The blonde just smiled, though, which made Molly feel somewhat better.

"No problem! We've all been new, once." She motioned for Molly to follow her, and thankfully, she didn't trip as she shuffled after. "You must be th'new farmer th'Mayor was goin' on about," the woman said, walking up to the bar. She ripped a piece of paper from her pad and slapped it down on the counter. Molly nodded, taking a seat on one of the stools.

"Yeah, I guess I am," she replied.

"Well, we surely are glad t'have ya!" This woman's smile was so beautiful, the fact that she was merely being nice to Molly made her feel more awkward. Comparatively, Molly was as plain as an egg next to her, and she knew from experience, women as polished and pretty as this one, weren't usually so nice to plain Janes like Molly. She didn't really know how to react, or even how to talk to someone so intimidatingly pretty. "Th'name's Kathy, by the way. I work here; my old man owns the bar. He's actually away for a few days, but I'll be sure t'introduce ya to him when he gets back."

"Oh, so this place is yours?" Molly asked, looking around.

"One day it will be!" Kathy winked at her, before turned to look over the bar, back at the kitchen. "Chase! Got an order for you!"

"Just a minute!" a voice called back, though Molly couldn't see who had spoken. Kathy rolled her eyes as she shook her head slightly.

"This is why order turnout is so slow," she chuckled, shrugging. ""Ley Cord-on-blue" back there's gatta have ev'rythin' be juuust perfect." Turning back to Molly, Kathy cocked her head slightly. "So, I never caught yer name, Darlin'."

"Oh!" Suddenly flustered, Molly seemed to struggle to recall her own name. "Er, it's Molly."

"Well, isn't that just cute as a button!" Kathy grinned, just as someone, Molly didn't know who, called the blonde's name from across the room.

"Oi, Kathy!" It was a male voice, rather scratchy. Kathy's smile waivered slightly, and she yelled over Molly's head.

"Can't you see I'm bein' friendly, Ramsey?" she called back, setting a hand on her hip. "I swear, that man get's more impatient ev'ry day!" Laughing to herself, she waved at Molly as she started walking towards the man who's summoned her. "Well, gatta get back t'work. But you come in any time you like, Molly! We're always glad t'have new farmers!" Kathy made her way back into the crowd, and Molly turned to watch her fingers drum on the counter. Well, at least she was nice, she thought. Blonde, pretty, intimidating, but nice. Things could be worse, she supposed.

"Hey!" All caught up in her own mind, Molly hadn't seen anyone emerge from the kitchen. But as soon as he spoke, she nearly jumped off of the stool in surprise, her eyes darting up to meet his. He was leaning casually against the frame of the door, his arms folded in front of him. Wispy, strawberry-blonde hair was kept back by a couple of barrettes, and he wore a long, blue apron over a plain white button up, the sleeves pushed up past his elbows. He wore an amused smile as he watched her startle at his sudden appearance, and pushed off the door frame, approaching the bar.

"Jeez, you scared me," Molly said, grasping her chest as her heart-rate came back down from her scare. The man chuckled at this, and leaned on the counter, still staring at her, sizing her up.

"Sorry," he shrugged, "You'd think I'd be used to dealing with spacey people all day, considering I work with those two," he nodded over to the women by the stage, the modest and less-modest ones. The more conservatively dressed girl had was wearing a pink…dress? Molly thought it was a dress. It was just so poofy! Her red hair was in two braids on either side of her head. The other was in some sort of purple…outfit. It was rather revealing. She, too, had red hair, but it was much longer than her companions.

"They work here?" Molly asked, unsure of what else to say. What else did you say to a comment like that?

"Well, the sexy one does," the man said. "The other little redhead doesn't work here, per say, but…I can't get her to leave, so she may as well." Molly nodded numbly, still unsure of how to react to that.

"Er…" she said, as she contemplated whether or not to introduce herself, and if this man would even care to know who she was. But he beat her to the punch. He reached for the slip of paper Kathy had put on the counter, glanced at it, before shoving it into his pocket. Turning his lavender eyes back to Molly, one side of his smile cocked up.

"Where are my manners?" he asked, straightening up. "I'm Chase, I'm the chef here at Brass Bar." He bowed slightly, dipping his head. "And, I assume your Hamilton's new farmer, but I haven't heard your name through the grapevine."

"Molly," she blurted, a little too eagerly. "Er, my name's Molly. It's nice to meet you." She started to turn pink again, as she silently chastised herself. 'Don't be weird!' she thought, 'be normal, damn it!'

"Molly. Huh, that's cute." He seemed to say this more to himself than to Molly, but it still made her turn even redder. Why was everyone saying her name was cute? It was a fairly common name in the city, she'd known three other Mollys back home. "So, Miss Molly, what brings you to Brass Bar? A little early for you to be drinking away your sorrows, eh? Usually takes new comers at least three weeks to get that despondent." Molly started to sputter out a reply, but that comment had her flustered beyond believe. After everything that had happened today, the disastrous meeting with the Mayor's son, the Goddess dumping such a heavy responsibility on her shoulders, making a fool of herself in front of the whole bar, she just couldn't keep her head on straight! Chase seemed to sense her distress, and held his hands up in defeat. "Hey, hey, just kidding! I'm sure it'll take at least four weeks to grow that depressed!"

"You think you're funny, don't you?" she said, exasperated. She rested her forehead on the smooth surface of the bar as Chase let out a proper laugh.

"Everyone asks that," he replied, grinning from ear to ear. "Aw, don't be so serious! Hey, look," he said, as Molly lifted her head. "Why don't I bring you something to eat? On the house."

"What?" Molly shook her head, digging around in her pocket for her money. "N-no, don't worry, I can pay!"

"Nah, it's my treat, for giving you a hard time on your first day!" He started to walk back to the kitchen, speaking to her over his shoulder. "Hayden would have my hide if he knew I was teasing the customers so bad, so it's the least I can do!" He winked as he disappeared through the doorway, and Molly felt like collapsing into an exhausted puddle on the ground. Why was everyone so aggravating in this town!? And what was with all the winking!?

* * *

"I heard you gave th'new girl a hard time," Kathy said, setting her tray down in the kitchen, addressing the chef as he was elbow-deep in a pile of dishes. She'd just closed up for the night, and it was just the two of them, since Selena had already left. Chase glanced back at the blonde waitress, and smiled.

"C'mon, it was too easy," he said, "I had to! I give everyone a hard time."

"Poor thing, she seemed timid, and here you are, actin' a fool and teasing her!" She walked up behind him, and smacked the back of his head.

"Ow!" he yelped, turning and glaring at her, his arms dripping sudsy water. "Hey, that was way harder than usual! No fair actually hurting me!"

"You be nice t'that new farmer girl," Kathy said, a smile on the edge of her lips. "She's sweet, and you're a sour apple." Flicking water from his arms, he reached for a dishtowel to dry them off, as Kathy hopped up to sit on the kitchen counter.

"I'm nice," he protested. "I'm very nice. And I plan to be very nice to Molly, as well." He shot the blonde a knowing look, to which she snickered.

"And risk Maya's wrath?" she asked sarcastically, to which Chase rolled his eyes.

"What's Maya gonna do, squeak at me?"

"Well, don't go getting' all attached an' what-not." Kathy hopped back down, and stood in the doorway. "Molly seems nice an' all, but the longest a new farmer's ever lasted here is a coupla months. As much as we all hope she's here fer good…well, she prob'ly isn't."

"Hmmm." Chase seemed to turn this over in his head, as Kathy turned to leave. "We'll just see about that."


	3. Chapter Three - Cliche Settup

It was a beautiful Monday morning. Birds were singing, the sun was shining, and every god-forsaken forest creature seemed to be out and about in the crisp spring morning air.

And then there was Molly.

Rubbing sleep from her eyes as she turned in her bed, she yanked the covers up over her head, shielding her from Finn, who was desperately trying to drag her up and onto her feet. But she was having none of that!

"Get up, get up, get. Up!" Tugging on the blanket with all his might, the tiny sprite still could not get Molly to budge, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying! But Molly stubbornly tucked herself even farther into her covers, and swatted at him when he floated too close.

"Go 'way," she whined, scowling with her eyes closed. "I'm still tired."

"Dawn's already passed us by!" Finn protested, floating down to sit on the bed beside her face. "A good farmer rises with the sun!"

"Yeah?" She cracked one eye open to glare at him. "And a good little sprite shushes when he's shushed." She turned away from him then, pulling the blankets with her.

"Molly, you get up right now!" Finn cried, waving his arms in the air. "If you don't water your crops soon, they'll dry out, and then how will you make any money!?" There was a long pause where Molly didn't make a move or a sound, before she let out a long groan, and started to sit up.

'Damn it, he's right again,' she thought, pressing her hands to her tired eyes. "He's always right it seems.'

"Okay, okay," she said, yawning loudly as she stood. "I'm up, I'm up. Lemme just get my work clothes on and then we'll go water the crops." Finn jumped up as Molly stumbled around, looking for her canvas work clothes.

"Yay! Yay! We're finally up!" She groaned again, listening to his cheerful chirping, and wondered if she'd ever get used to having that annoying little firefly around.

Probably not.

It was the first official day of her career as a farmer, and it was already off to a rocky start. It took forever for her to remember where she'd tossed her boots last night, and then when she finally found them and pulled her gloves on, she'd been greeted by a slew of weeds that had popped up in the nutrient poor soil overnight. It took a long while to get the weed situation sorted out, and by the time Molly actually got around to watering her plants, it was long-past noon, and she was physically exhausted.

"I didn't realize…how out of shape I was," she panted, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. "Who knew just weeding and watering was such hard work?"

"Yeah, I'm bushed!" Finn squeaked, and Molly glanced at him skeptically.

"You're bushed?" she asked, a small smile turning the corners of her mouth up. "What have you been doing all day? Sitting on my shoulder, that's what!"

"I've been directing you," he corrected, crossing him arms. "It's a very important job!"

"Oh, right, how could I have forgotten?" Chuckling in spite of her weariness, Molly went to sit down on the top of the shipping box by the corner of her field, and admired her hard day's work. Even though she was sore, dirty, sweaty and tired, she still felt kind of good with what she'd accomplished today. It felt good to actually be physically earning your wage. Smiling in spite of herself, she glanced at Finn, who had a similarly content look on his face. "So, wanna go in and get something to drink? I'm parched."

"You know, I have been feeling rather thirsty lately." The voice that replied wasn't Finn's, and it nearly gave Molly a heart attack when Chase spoke up from behind her. Jumping to her feet and spinning around, nearly tripping herself, she stared wide-eyed at him for a long moment, her brain trying to process who it was that had snuck up on her. Once she'd finally realized who it was, the hair on the back of her neck laid back down, and her heart rate slowed. But only slightly. "Depends on what you're offering, really. I've been craving a certain tall glass of water, recently."

"Chase," Molly said, half gasp, half laugh. She smiled out of surprise, but it was more of a knee-jerk reaction than an honest smile. "God, you're quiet!"

"I didn't mean to be," he said, his hands in his pockets. He wasn't wearing his apron at the moment, just slacks and a white shirt, but it was slung over one of his arms, dangling by his side. "You must just be distracted."

"Ha, yeah, I suppose I was."

"But jokes aside," he continued, "who were you just talking to?" Molly's lips pursed as she realized he must've heard her talking to Finn. But of course, he couldn't see the sprite, so to Chase, it must've just looked like she was talking to herself. 'Oh, great,' she internally whined, wanting to kick herself. 'Be more careful with that! Don't let the villagers see you talking to Finn, dummy!'

"Oh, er….myself," she lied, sounding rather jolted. Chase just raised an eyebrow at her, to which she felt prompted to continue. "It's, uh, force of habit. Used to do it all the time as a kid. Yup. That's it." She smiled, hoping he'd at least let it drop. He seemed satisfied enough with that answer, but didn't say anything after that. In fact, neither of them said anything after that, and a long, awkward silence passed between them. It was during this silence that Molly slowly realized what a mess she must have looked like, and a slow blush crept onto her nose and cheeks. "Oh, um, sorry I'm such a mess," she apologized, longing to flee from this awkward encounter. "Just got done with the plants, you know…haha…"

"I figured. You look beat." Molly wasn't the type to expect over the top compliments, and she'd weathered her fair share of nasty insults before, but even a bear would have taken offense to that particular phrase. After all, no one liked being told they looked as bad as they felt. Molly pouted slightly, and Chase just shook his head and chuckled. "Ah, you are a city girl, aren't you?" he asked. "I always forget that that's an insult to your type. It's actually kind of a compliment around these parts, you know."

"Oh really?" It was her turn to give him a strange look. He nodded, reaching up to brush his hair out of his face. Molly noticed that he wasn't wearing his barrettes today, and his hair looked a bit shaggier than it had last night. 'He must only wear those barrettes to keep his hair out of the way when he's cooking,' she thought, realization dawning on her. And here she thought he was just interested in proper hair accessorization.

"It means you've been working hard," he said, his eyes flickering from her dirt-smudged face over her shoulder, towards the hill her house sat on. "Ah, so there's the new homestead, huh?" Twisting her head to follow his gaze, she shrugged.

"Yeah. I guess I can't be picky, when I'm getting it for like, one sixth of it's usual price, but…I dunno. Wish it would have been nicer." She tipped her head to the side slightly, taking in the underwhelming sight of her new property. "I left my family's old run down house in the city, I guess I'd just hoped I wouldn't be put in another one." Chase glanced sideways at her, taking in that comment a bit more deeply than Molly intended. That would be one he'd have to ask about later. But not now.

"I'm sure you'll be able to spruce it up in no time," he assured her, nudging her side with his elbow slightly. "But none of us here are really interested in 'fancy' things. Well, no one by Mr. Priss and his little Lovebird, that is." He snickered to himself slightly, and Molly didn't have to think too hard to guess who 'Mr. Priss' was.

"The Mayor's son?" she asked, drawing her mouth into a thin-lipped frown. "Yeah, I can see him being interested in fancy-pants stuff."

"Oh, so you've met our resident tight-wad, huh?"

"Unfortunately," Molly replied, rubbing her neck. "…It didn't go well." Chase laughed at this, and right as his nose wrinkled up, Molly noticed he had a smattering of freckles across his face.

"Yup, that's Gill for ya!" Straightening up and pushing his hair back again, he settled down, and smiled broadly at Molly. It made her feel…weird, to be smiled at like that. It almost seemed predatory, like a Cheshire grin as a cat stalked a mouse. She fidgeted slightly. "Ah, well, as much as I love bad-talking ol' Gilly, that's not actually what I snuck up on you for."

"Oh? There was a reason for the sneaking?" she asked, "I thought it was just for the joy of watching me go into cardiac arrest." He shot her a wry look, but shook his head.

"Oh, I'm sure that's quite a sight. But no; I actually wanted to swing by and see if you wanted to head up to the Inn with me and grab a late lunch?" The sun was still hanging stubbornly in the afternoon sky; it was probably not much past three PM.

All things considered, Chase was probably one of the friendliest people she'd met so far, and one of the only 'friends', if you could really call talking twice being friends, she had in the town. But…the thought of having to endure his endless teasing, coupled with the fact that she smelled like dirt and sweat, didn't really make Molly want to do anything, let alone go out to lunch with anyone. And right as she opened her mouth to voice these thoughts, Chase interrupted her.

"We can rag on Gill all you want while we're out," he offered, which caused Molly to pause, and rethink what she was about to say.

"…Can you give me 15 minutes to shower and change?" she asked.

"Sure, if you could actually make good on that 'something to drink' offer from before; it's hotter out here than I initially expected."

* * *

"No, no, no, the big one is Owen. The smaller, more spazzy one is Luke."

"And the mousy one is…?"

"That's Bo. He's actually a sweet kid, but he's perpetually living in Luke's oversized shadow, so it's hard to see him sometimes."

"And Luke's dad is the Blacksmith-"

"No, his dad's the Carpenter. The Blacksmith is Owen's uncle, and Chloe's dad."

"Uggg!" Leaning back in her chair and draping her arm over her eyes, she let out a groan. Molly and Chase were sitting out on the Ocarina Inn outdoor veranda, and Chase was pointing out villagers to her as they ate. "I'm never going to get any of this!"

"It's not a test," Chase laughed, leaning back himself. "Besides, you'll get better at recognizing people the longer you're here for. You already know me, and that's already more than half of the really important people you need to know." He flashed her a cocky smile when she glared at him sarcastically.

"And the other half?" she asked, almost not wanting to know the answer.

"My mentor, Yolanda. Best cook on the Mainland, I'd say. Everyone else…meh." The two of them shared a laugh this time, and Molly sat back up, leaning her elbows on the table.

"I wonder if I'll even make it long enough to learn everyone's names," she said wistfully, staring at the half-empty glass of water in front of her. Chase sat a little straighter when she said this, Kathy's words from last night ringing in his ears again.

"…Why would you say that?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at her. She sighed, before fiddling with the bendy straw sticking out of the glass.

"Well, I might drop dead before I can even pay the property taxes back," she said, half-joking. Though, there was a small twinge of truth to that. If every day was going to be as hard as today, or harder…well, she may as well dig a hole and carve a headstone now! But Chase visibly relaxed when she said that, running his hand through his coppery blonde hair.

"Oh. Phew. Thought you meant you were thinking of leaving already," he said honestly, and Molly shook her head, taking a sip of her drink.

"No. There's no way I can go back. I have to save up money for my family. Can't go back without money."

"Or without saving the Harvest Goddess first!" Finn piped up, though she paid him no mind. It wasn't like she was about to look at him or answer him when Chase was sitting across from her. He already thought she was a spacey airhead. Didn't need to go and make him think she was certifiable.

"Yeah, I was meaning to ask about that," he said, leaning forward. "You mentioned your family and your old home before; what's the story on that, if you don't mind me asking?"

Molly paused mid-sip as she thought over what to say to that. She wasn't exactly shy about her family's poverty; it was what it was, there was no changing that. But, she felt slightly reticent to tell someone who was practically a stranger the whole story. She mentally scrambled to come up with the abridged version.

"We've always been riding the line between 'kind of poor' and 'very poor'," she said, setting the glass back down. "There's four of us kids, and Dad recently got sick. I'm the oldest, so it's my job to go out and find a way to make more money, so Dad can get the medicine he needs." She let out a sigh, glancing at Chase. His face was emotionless, but he looked like he was really listening, as opposed to just glazing over. "So, I can't fail. I have to stick it out here, no matter how hard it gets. I'm not going anywhere." She felt sort of good saying those words, like it was a positive affirmation. Molly felt a small smile creep up on her, and Chase mirrored it back to her.

"That's good," he said, happier about that then he was letting on. "We've not had a very good track record with farmers in this town in the past, you know."

"I've heard a little bit about that," Molly replied, "your turn to tell me what's up."

"Ah, not much to tell, really," Chase said, shrugging his shoulders. He wasn't about to tell Molly that every other person who'd come to Castanet looking for work had left within six months, due to the poor soil, the barren waters, the insufficient fires. So he decided to sugar coat it a little. He was a chef, after all. "Weak-willed people coming out here, thinking it'll be easy work. Looking to make a quick buck. A farm is lucrative, but it takes a lot of hard work, and I guess none of the others were prepared to put in as much work as was necessary." There, that sounded good enough. For now.

"Well, I'm definitely ready to put in the work," Molly said, clenching her fists and smiling determinedly. "Things have never been easy on me, I can take a little hard work!" Chase grinned at this.

"That'a'girl," he said cheekily, but before their conversation could go on, a very shrill sort screech could be heard. Both of them peered out over the edge of the veranda, down to First Street below. From where she was sitting, Molly could only barely see who it was that had made the somewhat bird-like noise, and even then, the person's back was turned to her.

"Was it that pink-haired girl that just screamed?" Molly asked, and when she turned to look at Chase, he was wearing an annoyed little frown. He sat back in his chair, blowing the bangs out of his eyes.

"Luna," Chase said, supplying the girl's name. "Shelly's granddaughter. You've met Shelly, right?"

"Yeah, but I thought Shelly's granddaughter's name was Candace. She was there at the shop when I bought gloves, and she definitely didn't have pink hair."

"No, you're right, Candace is Shelly's older granddaughter. If only Luna was more like her big sister." Molly turned back to peer over the edge again, and saw that Luna was twirling in place, and while she couldn't make out what the girl was saying, she was speaking about a mile a minute.

"She seems lively," Molly commented, and Chase only snorted in amusement.

"She just likes the attention. No wonder she and Gill are getting married. Together, they're completely impossible to ignore." Molly nearly did a double take at this; THIS was the 'lovebird' Chase had mentioned Gill having before? And they were getting married!? Standing, Molly leaned farther over the veranda, and only then did she see why Luna had been squealing and twirling; Gill was standing there, in front of Sonata Tailoring, and seemed to be presenting her with a gift of some sort.

"Ug, who would want to marry Gill?" she asked, squinting to get a better view.

"Took the words right outta my mouth," Chase started to say, but found himself cut off as Molly unwittingly began to find herself tipping over the railing. She let out a gasp as she realized she'd leaned too far over the rail, and the next few moments seemed to go in slow motion. She threw her hands out in front of her, unable to catch herself, she let out a surprised yelp, and she thought, this is it, this is how it's all going to end. But Chase was already on his feet, and before she could go completely over, he managed to grab her hand, and yank her back onto the ledge, back to her feet. The momentum of being pulled so hard backwards caused her to spin slightly, and she found herself chest-to-chest with Chase, who was still holding onto her wrist. It seemed to take a lifetime, but it all happened in nearly a blink of an eye.

"A bit unsteady on your feet, huh?" Chase finally said, a good-natured smirk on his lips. Molly took a few seconds to catch her breath, before even attempting to reply. "Be careful, or you'll get swept right off of them!"

"Ha ha, good thing I had you here," she said, stepping away and brushing her clothes out, more out of habit than an honest effort to dust them off. Running a hand through her short brown hair to smooth it back out, she grinned at Chase, her adrenaline making her feel like she'd just escaped a shark attack! She couldn't keep a laugh from bubbling out of her throat; she'd always been a nervous-laugher. Whenever she was in a sticky situation, or narrowly escaped danger, she giggled.

"Yeah, I was just thinkin' the same, kid," Chase replied, nudging her slightly, to which she shoved him back playfully. "Juuust thinkin' the same thing."

* * *

"Eeeeek!" Gill was wearing a perfectly polished smile as he presented Luna with her gift, though on the inside, he felt like grinding his teeth at her shrill shriek. He was nothing but a gentleman, though, and kept that side of himself securely hidden away; after all, this was his fiancé. Nice men didn't make faces at their fiancés, no matter how annoying they were. And boy, was this one annoying.

"Gilly, you're too much!" Luna squealed, snatching the package from his hands and holding it to her chest.

"It's just a little something I picked up in the city the last time I visited," he said, forcibly making the hair on the back of his neck lie flat. "…I thought of you when I saw it." Luna quickly ripped the packaging away, to reveal a tan and red silk scarf. She immediately wrapped it around her shoulders, twirling like a child, and Gill had to seriously suppress the urge to roll his eyes. This may be the woman he was going to marry, but man, did she act like a kid sometimes. But then again, who didn't in this floundering little town?

"Gill, it's gorgeous!" she sang, stopping on her heel and reaching out to take Gill's hands in hers. "What did I ever do to land such a perfect future husband?" Now, Gill wasn't exactly the saccharine type, and he certainly didn't like to be gushed over like this, but he did take a little pride in the fact that he'd picked something out that Luna actually liked. Being the granddaughter of a master seamstress meant she had incredibly…particular taste in clothes. He'd been worried she would reject it, or god forbid, call it tacky. He was relieved that she did neither of those things.

"Well, I wouldn't say-" Before Gill could continue his falsely humble sentence, a shriek of a different sort cut through the air of Harmonica town, and both he and Luna snapped their heads up, to see where it was coming from.

"Whoa!" Molly had gasped, as she teetered over the railing on the Ocarina Inn's veranda. Luna gasped as the ditsy farm girl nearly toppled over the edge, and Gill felt a shiver run down his spine, as he was sure he was about to see the new kid get splattered all over the cobblestones. But seemingly out of nowhere, Molly was yanked back up, only to be spun around and caught by Chase, whom Gill hadn't seen standing there before that moment. Several of the other villagers in town who'd witnessed the near-death experience started clapping at Chase's 'heroic' rescue, even Luna joined in. But Gill was still standing rigid, though now, for a different reason, one he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Oh, that was close!" Luna said, turning back to her fiancé. "She almost fell! Good thing Chase was up there, huh, Gilly?" She smiled brightly up at him, but he didn't return it, didn't even look down to meet her gaze. "Uh, Gill? What's wrong? Hellooo?"

"She's proving to be more troublesome than I initially thought," Gill said, scowling up at the pair on the veranda. "She's going to get herself killed out here; what is she even doing here?"

"Gill, what are you talking about?" Finally snapped back to reality, Gill looked down at a very confused Luna, and tried to reassemble his features into a softer expression. He sort of succeeded.

"Nothing," he sighed, but it wasn't convincing the little pink-haired spit-fire.

"No, tell me!" she whined, scowling at him. "C'mon, come in and you can tell me over tea and cookies."

"Oh….alright," he finally conceded, letting himself be dragged by the sleeve by Luna. There was one good thing about being engaged to Luna, he thought; no matter what side Gill took on an issue, she almost always took his side as well. She may have been annoying, but an annoying ally was better than no ally.


End file.
